


tempest in a teacup

by eqonine



Category: Fall Out Boy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 18:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16686766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eqonine/pseuds/eqonine
Summary: joe asks patrick to be his fake date to his brother's wedding but it gets harder and harder to keep his years long crush hidden from him





	tempest in a teacup

**Author's Note:**

> so this is my first fob fic and i want to dedicate it to my fellow joe/joetrick hoes on twitter who have welcomed me so warmly and wonderfully in the fandom, i love y'all. but ultimately this is for cami, the loml, without who this fic would probably not even exist. i love you so much. okay, enjoy this fluffy gay mess now!!

“Patrick, please. I’m begging you. I’ll even pay you if I have to!”

“You’d pay me to go to your brother’s wedding with you? Are you really that desperate?”

It’s a regular October evening after band practice. Joe and Patrick are hanging out at Joe’s place as they do almost every night. The practice had been good, and the four members were fuelled and ready for their next small show on Friday night.

Joe slumps back in the sofa. Yes, he is desperate. He’s 21 years old and has never had a serious boyfriend to present to his family. This wedding is the third one he was going to this year.

Which is why he’d resorted to asking his best friend in the entire world to pretend to be his boyfriend for the evening. What could go wrong with this plan?

“You know my whole family will not stop asking me questions if I show up single _again_. Patrick, please! There’ll be free food! An evening of pretending to have the hottest boyfriend in town plus free food. You can’t say no!” declares Joe, throwing himself on his knees in front of Patrick and putting his head on Patrick’s thighs, batting his eyelashes up at him.

Patrick bites back a smile, rolling his eyes softly at his best friend’s antics while crossing his arms.

“Fine! Fine, okay! I’ll go for you. But you owe me!” Patrick says, pushing Joe’s head off his thighs and dragging his legs up to his chest.

A huge grin splits Joe’s face as he jumps to his feet in delight.

“Ah! Thank you! I could kiss you!” he shouts, throwing himself next to Patrick on the sofa, cuddling up next to him and firmly ignoring how painfully true the words he said are.

He hears Patrick huff, but he doesn’t move away from him, which Joe counts as a win.

And is it just Joe or does Patrick even cuddle a little closer? 

What could go wrong with this plan? Oh, maybe just the fact that Joe’s been in love with Patrick for years.

*

“Come on, Patrick, we’re gonna be late. I’m sure you look fine!” 

“I’ll be there in a minute just... Wait!”

Joe lets out a deep sigh and sags against the wall of Patrick’s entrance. This whole having Patrick pretend to be his boyfriend thing was stressing him out much more than he anticipated, and he dreads the moment he’ll have to pretend to be in love with him in front everyone, knowing that it’ll be way too easy for him.

Letting out another sigh, he drags himself off the wall and nervously fixes his bright blue tie in the mirror facing him. 

“Um, okay. We can go, I’m ready.”

Joe almost jumps, turning to his right to face Patrick standing in front of him wearing a perfectly fitted dark blue suit, his mousy brown hair messed up just right, a faint blush clear on his high cheekbones making his freckles stand out more than usual. 

Joe’s mouth instantly goes dry and he struggles to keep his staring to a minimum as he wipes the shock off his face. 

“That’s, um, okay, yeah, let’s go,” stutters Joe, turning to open the door and stepping outside, welcoming the cool air on his burning face.

“Is everything okay?” asks Patrick, concern lacing his voice. “If you don’t want me to come anymore I can just… stay home. But then you’d owe me even more for making me get ready for nothing,” he teases, hoping to get a smile out of Joe.

Joe laughs nervously, casting a quick glance at Patrick as he opens the door to get into his car.

“I’m just nervous, that’s all. You’re the first official boyfriend I’m gonna present to my family after all,” _and I’m also actually in love with you but you don’t know it,_ Joe completes in his head.

“They’re gonna be so disappointed when they learn we broke up in like two days,” Patrick laughs softly.

Joe feels his heart twist in his chest. Patrick really didn’t seem to realize how painful his words were to him.

“Yeah, but I mean… maybe we could extend it a little longer? You know my mom loves you and she’ll be heartbroken if we split up so soon after the wedding,” tentatively asks Joe, knowing that he may be pushing his luck too far.

“Oh. Well. Yes, I guess that does make sense. And we don’t have to do anything unless we’re somewhere together right?” replies Patrick looking intently at Joe.

“No, no. We don’t have to. You don’t even have to see me at all if you don’t want to,” answers Joe, hands squeezing the wheel until his knuckles turn white to let out a bit of frustration.

This truly was a mistake.

“Oh my god, Joe, no! You know you’re my best friend and I agreed to this. As long as you need me to,” Patrick says, reassuringly reaching out to put his hand on Joe’s thigh, taking it off as if it had burned him a second later. 

Surprised by the sudden contact, Joe glances quickly at Patrick, holding back a smile. Them touching each other in a casually intimate way isn’t unusual, but always very welcomed.

The rest of the ride to the wedding happens in comfortable silence, a playlist of old songs both of them enjoy playing loudly through the speakers of Joe’s beat up car.

 Once they reach the venue, Joe and Patrick step out of the car in sync, meeting each other in front of it.

“We’ll keep the PDA to a minimum, okay? We don’t even have to kiss. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” mutters Joe, lowering his eyes to the ground of the parking lot.

“You could never make me uncomfortable, I trust you. But okay for the no kissing. Anyway, as long as we’re convincing enough, we should be totally fine,” replies Patrick, extending his hand to a surprised Joe who takes hesitantly.

A swarm of butterflies appears in his stomach and he lets a huge grin spread on his face.

“Ready?” the curly-haired man asks.

“Ready,” replies Patrick.

They step into the beautiful Greek-style building together, still holding hands.

Joe’s mom is the first person who sees them, and she instantly spots their hands tied together.

“Joseph, honey! And… Patrick, what a surprise! I wasn’t expecting you here with Joe,” she finishes with a small crease forming between her eyebrows.

“Yeah, uh, mom, there’s something I should tell you…” Joe starts, feeling much more uncomfortable than he had before.

How was he supposed to lie to his mom – one of the most important person in his life – about dating his best friend who he wasn’t actually dating but also really in love with?

And then like an angel coming straight from heaven, sensing his discomfort, Patrick came to his rescue.

“Yes, sorry Marie,” Patrick starts, gripping Joe’s hand tighter, almost giving him a heart attack in the process. “I’m here as Joe’s plus one. We kinda… started dating two weeks ago and he invited me here as his date.”

For a long moment, Marie’s eyes bore into the eyes of the two men in front of her, making Joe feel faint a couple of times. She could be very intimidating when she wanted to be. But then again, his mom knows he’s bi and it’s not a secret to her that Patrick is too, so what could possibly be the problem here?

Then finally…

“Ah! Thank god! Finally!” she screams in delight, grabbing both boys and squeezing them tightly to her chest.

A light blush on his cheeks, Joe steps back from his mom and grabs Patrick’s hand in his again.

“Um, yeah, well… Hold on, what do you mean by ‘finally’?” he asks his mom, suddenly suspicious.

“Well everyone knows you’ve had a crush on Patrick since the day you met each other in elementary school,” she says, waving her hand around to encompass the crowd of people present in the room.

Joe nearly chokes on his saliva, too surprised by the unexpectedly correct assumption.

“Wha- what do you mean, no…” he splutters, trying to gain back a bit of his dignity. He catches his words fast enough though, remembering he’s supposed to play the smitten boyfriend, so he might as well roll along and tell the truth. Patrick doesn’t need to know it’s real.

“Okay,” Joe adds, “maybe not since the day I met him, but give or take a few weeks after,” Joe’s face is bright red and he swallows thickly around the knot in his throat.

He briefly glances at Patrick, still holding his hand, and is surprised to see him staring back at him with a shocked look on his face.

“You’ve been in love with me… Since the day we met?” whispers Patrick disbelievingly.

It seems so honest and earnest that Joe almost forgets it’s all acting from his part.

“Well, no, maybe not in love but also kinda… Can we change the subject now, it’s embarrassing,” Joe says, blushing even harder than he was just a few seconds ago.

“Aw, babe, you look so cute when you blush,” teases Patrick. The pet name sounds so foreign yet so endearing coming from Patrick’s mouth that Joe doesn’t know how to react.

His mom laughs at them softly before putting her hand on her son’s shoulder and whispering in his ear:

“I’m so happy for you, Joseph. You two are absolutely adorable together.”

She quickly pecks him on the cheek before leaving them with a wave and a “see you later”.

“That wasn’t so bad, was it? We totally got her and she was the one you thought would be the hardest to convince!” proudly declares Patrick, turning his head towards Joe, his smile bright and careless, as if the revelation in the previous conversation hadn’t bothered him whatsoever.

Joe feels his heart tighten in his chest at the thought.

“Yeah, we sure did,” he replies, trying his best to keep his smile natural as he tugs Patrick along with him to greet the rest of his family.

*

The first part of the evening goes by like a blur to Joe. He can remember introducing Patrick as his boyfriend to all his family members and getting different degrees of congratulations and approval from all of them. He remembers every single one of them saying that it was about time he found someone to date. He remembers answering a few simple questions about their relationship – thankfully not too many since most of them already knew Patrick. He remembers Patrick playing the part of the perfect boyfriend beyond anything he could’ve hoped for, charming absolutely everyone he was presented to and going along with every answer Joe gave. He remembers growing scarily accustomed to feeling warmth of Patrick’s hand either tucked in his or wrapped protectively around his waist. He remembers the weight of Patrick’s hand on his thigh through all of the ceremony. He remembers leaning his head against Patrick’s shoulder during the vows and Patrick kissing his forehead softly. But for the rest? Joe has no idea what happened.

As it turns out, Patrick’s really too good at pretending to be in love with him and it messes with Joe’s heart more and more with every minute that goes by.

Asking Patrick to be his date really was the worst decision of Joe’s entire life.

Dinner comes right after the ceremony and Joe and Patrick end up seated at a table with eight of Joe’s cousins who turn out to be seriously too curious for their own good.

“We needed a not-too-old adult to keep an eye on them…” justifies his mom with an apologetic smile when they enter the dinning room and are presented with the seating chart. “If we had known you had a boyfriend coming along we would’ve made the seating more appropriate; I’m sorry honey.”

Joe’s cousins are all young teenagers, except Meagan who’s nineteen, and Joe and Patrick seem to be the first real life gay couple they meet.

“How did you know you were in love, and not just best friends?”

“What does it feel like to kiss another boy?”

“Are people mean to you when you hold hands outside?”

“How do two guys have s…”

“Okay, that’s enough questions for today. Joe and Patrick don’t have to answer any of them,” cuts Meagan, saving both men in more ways than she realized.

Joe can’t even remember the last time he’s felt this flustered. Kids have a way to ask questions without any filter. If Patrick was actually Joe’s boyfriend, he might’ve been able to answer at least some of those questions without feeling like even more of an idiot than he does now.

“No, it’s okay Meagan… right?” starts Patrick, looking questioningly at Joe’s cousin. She nods yes. “Kids have questions and it’s normal. It may be weird for Joe to answer some of them, but I totally can,” he finishes, resolutely not looking at Joe, while Joe’s cousins, these monsters, cheer happily.

It’s probably better this way. Joe’s mouth is hanging open in disbelief, his eyes wide open. Patrick really wants to answer questions about their (fake) relationship. Questions that, he now realizes, they haven’t even discussed about beforehand.

“You really don’t have to, Trick…” Joe finally trails off, trying not to overthink what this all means. _Too late_ , he thinks.

“No, no, I want to. Someone needs to answer their questions and it might as well be people who have their best interest in mind, don’t you think? I won’t get into details, I promise,” Patrick answers, linking his hand with Joe’s under the table, his thumb caressing the back of his hand in a reassuring way before glancing at him… lovingly?

Joe feels his heart stop beating right there and then. Patrick really is too good at pretending, and Joe doesn’t know how much longer he can handle it. So he just lets out a small “okay” and starts worrying his bottom lip while twisting a strand of his curly hair around the finger of his free hand.

Patrick takes a deep breath, clearly as nervous as Joe feels about this, but better at hiding it. He handles the kids questions perfectly. Keeping his promise to Joe, he doesn’t go into too many details and stays general enough that it feels like their story could be anyone’s. It doesn’t go as bad as Joe expected it to, and seeing Patrick be so wonderful with children makes his heart melt.

It isn’t long before their questions are all answered, and their plates abandoned in favor of running to the dance floor.

Joe let’s out a long, relieved sigh and shoots Patrick a grateful smile, that he immediately returns, his slightly clammy hand still tightly holding Patrick’s.

It’s in that moment that Meagan, still sitting at the table with them, pipes up.

“Now that the kids are gone… Can I get the real story?” she smiles deviously.

Both men turn to her, surprise written all over their features, caught off guard by her unexpected question.

“Um, yes, sure, of course…” stutters Joe, cursing at himself internally for the sudden reappearance of the lisp he sometimes gets when he’s nervous.

Patrick immediately catches on Joe’s discomfort and gives the other man’s hand a reassuring squeeze before turning to Meagan, a large smile on his face.

“I’ll tell the story, if you don’t mind. Haven’t really had the chance to tell it in detail yet, not with this man right here jumping in to say it before I even get to open my mouth,” he laughs softly, looking over at Joe with the same loving expression he had a few minutes ago.

Joe feels like he might actually faint. On one hand, he’s thankful that Patrick’s saving the day again, knowing that he’s better at improvisation than Joe. But on the other hand, this is miles away from Patrick answering some simple, innocent questions. This is the real deal. Meagan is not a child, she expects a fully detailed story and she’ll be able to tell immediately if it seems too fake. This is where it can all go wrong.

Joe wipes his free sweaty palm on his thigh, heart hammering brutally in his chest. He isn’t ready for Patrick to tell this story, _their_ story, when they haven’t even had the opportunity to discuss any of it, but he clearly doesn’t have a choice anymore. Hopefully he has had enough time to think of something convincing enough to enthrall Joe’s cousin with.

“Okay, so. I asked Joe out first,” starts Patrick, a small smile on his lips, immediately captivating his audience of two. It takes all the self-restraint in Joe’s body not to whip his head around and yell “WHAT” as loudly as he can. Since, surprisingly enough, no one in Joe’s family so far had been nosy enough to ask him how they had gotten together, not even his cousins, Joe had been saved from coming up with that story on the spot. He had absolutely not been ready for Patrick’s version to start this way, though.

“I had been in love with him for years. We met when we were ten years old and he instantly became my best friend. I don’t remember when I started realizing I was in love with him, but I was seventeen when it became clear to me that I wanted him in my life as more than just a friend. We were on a road trip with two of our other closest friends, travelling through a few states in the shittiest van ever known to mankind. They were sitting in the front, Joe and I were in the backseat under a blanket as it was cold for early September. It was night, and I was looking outside at the stars. It was beautiful, and I was close to falling asleep when I felt Joe snuggling up to me. He told me he was still cold and needed me to share my “fucking warmth”. He was half asleep himself when he said that, his hair was bleached blonde and he had a dumb lip ring that I… never mind,” Patrick stops abruptly, flushing bright red.

The pause in Patrick’s spiel brings Joe back to reality. He blinks a few times and reaches for his glass of water with a shaking hand. He remembers the event Patrick just described like it happened yesterday. He has no idea where Patrick is going with his story, but he knows for a fact that Patrick isn’t good enough of an actor to fake such a deep blush and he sounds so sincere and emotional that Joe can’t help but wonder if everything he’s saying may be true…

“Anyway,” Patrick coughs, glancing at Meagan who is now looking at them with more curiosity than she had before. “In that moment, I knew that I was truly in love with him. I knew that there was no mistake and that I couldn’t just keep pretending to myself that he was my best friend. Of course, I didn’t say anything then. I let him sleep against me and eventually I fell asleep too, feeling more safe and loved than I had in a very long time.”

Patrick stops again, letting out a shuddering breath. He seems almost on the brink of tears as he recalls the story, making Joe more baffled by the second.

Regaining his composure, he flashes a tiny smile at Joe, which absolutely doesn’t help with the anxiety this situation is giving him, while also making more butterflies erupt in his chest – as if he needed those on top of everything else.

“So, I chickened out on telling him how I felt for years. I never once thought he could feel the same about me. I still can’t believe it, to be honest. How can someone like him, handsome, funny, incredibly talented and with so many guys and girls running desperately after him fall in love with someone like me?” Patrick laughs self-deprecatingly, pointing at himself.

 Joe’s heard this kind of speech from Patrick way too often for his liking. Patrick always had self-esteem issues, related to his physical appearance as well as his musical talent. Every single time he has bashfully told Joe about some of his insecurities, he had done his damn best to convince him of the opposite, because Patrick is the best person he knows.

Just as he’s about to open his mouth to protest and tell Patrick just how wonderful he is, he’s interrupted by Patrick’s voice again.

“Finally, two weeks ago, I decided it was enough. I just couldn’t live like that anymore, I had to tell him. I didn’t really plan how or what I was going to say so I was just hoping that I would find both the right words and be at the right place at the right moment –  that I wouldn’t mess up so bad that, if he didn’t feel the same way I did, he’d at least still want to be friends with me. Thankfully, it all happened at it should have. We left band practice together and walked to his apartment. On the way there, we stopped on the lake side and admired the sunset, which is always most beautiful in the fall – at least in my opinion. He looked… stunning in the fading orange light,” Patrick trails off, a shy smile spreading on his lips.

Joe blinks a few times, certain that he has to be dead and buried by now. That’s exactly what Patrick and he had been doing that fateful Wednesday night he’d asked him to be his fake date for this exact wedding. He also had looked at Patrick and thought he looked gorgeous in the bright autumnal air. He had thought of actually declaring his love for him then too; letting go of his fears and worries that he would ruin everything between them and ask him out not just as a fake date, but as a real one. He obviously hadn’t been brave enough.

“Then the words just came out. It wasn’t perfect – I stuttered a lot and was shaking like a leaf, but at least I had done it, and it was out of the way now. Joe only had to reply and seal our fate,” he firmly says, locking eyes with Joe, sounding more serious than he had during his whole monologue, before continuing it.

 “And he said yes. He’s in love with me too,” Patrick laughs, as if delighted by his own story. “I don’t remember ever feeling this happy. I just wanted to capture the moment in my head and heart forever. And so we kissed. It was perfect; obviously it was. It was with Joe. We could’ve had our first kiss in a garbage can and it still would’ve been perfect. I love-”

Not letting his head catch up with what he’s doing, Joe leans in towards Patrick and forcefully presses his lips against his best friend’s. For a few seconds, it’s bliss. All he feels is Patrick’s soft lips under his, the tightness with which he’s still gripping Patrick’s hand under the table, and the pounding of his heart against his chest. Then he registers that Patrick isn’t kissing him back and that – oh! – they’re still in front of his cousin and everyone else at the wedding.

Brutally brought back to reality, he detaches his lips from Patrick’s, his face on fire, slamming back against his chair. He registers the quickly-covered shock on his friend’s face, hidden by the fierce blush matching his own. He can feel Meagan’s amused eyes fixing him. Oh, he’s fucked up so bad.

“Sorry, that wasn’t meant to happen,” he barely manages to stutter, mortified, addressing his cousin, and especially Patrick, before standing up and leaving the table as fast as he can.

Ignoring the worried looks the guests eating joyfully at their tables shoot at him, Joe walks as fast as possible out of the reception hall to escape somewhere he’ll be able to have an impending meltdown without everyone looking.

Finding the bathroom, he locks himself in the stall farthest from the entrance and leans back against the door, trying to get his erratic breathing back under control. He can hear the blood rushing in his ears and his heart is beating faster than it had all evening.

He lets himself slide down the door unto the floor, raking his shaky hands through his dark curls. He really fucked up. Badly. Patrick wasn’t trying to seduce him when he told the story of how he “fell in love with him”. He wasn’t trying to subtly tell Joe how he would’ve liked things to really happen between them. And he definitely wasn’t trying to show Joe that he truly loves him by telling this story to his cousin.

God, Joe is so stupid to have thought so. So stupid to have let his feelings overwhelm him to the point of _actually kissing_ Patrick. They weren’t even supposed to kiss for the sake of making their relationship believable, that much had been made clear before they walked in. Patrick was clearly just trying to be the best fake boyfriend he could possibly be and Joe – dumb, ridiculous Joe – had thought that his best friend of forever maybe did harbour similar feelings to his after all. And so he had to go and ruin everything in the span of a few regrettably enjoyable seconds.

Bringing up his legs to hug them against his chest, Joe lowers his head on them and lets out a broken sob. Patrick’s reaction made his disinterest clear and he’ll definitely never want to hear from Joe again now. He’s truly ruined everything.

Joe knows he’ll have to go back out there soon; he can’t stay hidden in the bathroom until the party is over. His mom would never forgive him for that, not at his brother’s wedding.

He’s not ready to face Patrick. Not now, not so soon after the disaster. He’s not ready to go and pretend that nothing happened and that he just had an urgent need to go to the bathroom because, after all, they’re supposed to be together and Joe kissing Patrick shouldn’t be this big a deal at all.

But it is a big deal.

After giving himself a few more minutes to cry, and then throw cold water on his face to appease its redness, he takes a deep breath before stepping out of the bathroom.

As he walks back to the reception hall, Joe thinks about how grateful he is that Patrick didn’t run after him to see if he was okay. It would’ve been unbearable to have to face him in such a state, especially since Patrick doesn’t know the _real_ reason behind Joe’s horrified reaction. He probably thinks he just played his part a little too well and it freaked him out since they weren’t supposed to kiss, but that it’s no big deal. Plus, if he’d have followed him, people would’ve started to question why he really ran away. Patrick probably did a great job at reassuring them back there. It’s all for the better. 

Taking a deep shuddering breath, Joe pulls on the doors of the room and walks inside. The tables have all been pushed against the walls, revealing a huge dancing floor flooded with people enthusiastically bouncing to ABBA’s Dancing Queen. The beat of the familiar song mixed with the warm, soft glow from the fairy lights suspended across the low ceiling of the room – so strikingly different from the harsh industrial lighting of the bathroom Joe left a minute ago – instantly make him feel a little more at peace than he did when he walked in.

Then he spots Patrick sitting alone on a chair, watching the dancers jump around with a faint smile on his lips. _Lips that I kissed not even half an hour ago_ , Joe’s brain unhelpfully supplies him.

He uncertainly makes his way towards his best friend, blood draining from Joe’s face when Patrick notices him and his lips curl down into a slight scowl, his brows furrowing.  

Heart heavy, he approaches Patrick and pulls up a chair next to him, fidgeting with his fingers and bouncing his leg up and down as soon as he sits on it.

Patrick stares forward resolutely, frown still in place making Joe grow more and more worried with every breath.

“Patrick, I-” Joe starts, voice croaky.

“No, save it. I don’t care. I had to make up some embarrassing bullshit excuse about sudden bowel problems to _your_ family when _you_ ran away after _you_ kissed me,” he starts, voice carefully even, but Joe knows Patrick better, knows he’s boiling on the inside. _And rightfully so_ , Joe thinks. “You weren’t supposed to kiss me. Why did you do it?” Patrick finishes, his voice suddenly angry and demanding.

 Joe audibly swallows, panic bubbling in his chest. Now could be his chance to say what he’s been too coward to say for god knows how long.

“It was nothing. Just a spur of the moment thing. Your fake story about how we got together inspired me, I guess. I know we agreed on no kissing though, that’s why I ran away. I’m really sorry,” Joe explains, feeling like more of an asshole with every lie coming out of his mouth. He almost wants to hit his head against the wall behind him – he can’t believe how _stupid_ he is!

Patrick doesn’t look convinced, which takes Joe aback. Isn’t that what Patrick wanted to hear? That it was an accident, that he didn’t mean anything by it?

“But then why… never mind,” sighs Patrick, before slouching back into his chair, closing his eyes.

Even more confused, Joe also leans back into his seat.

They stay sitting there in tense silence for a few more songs before Joe breaks it again.

“You’re still my friend though, right? Like, I didn’t ruin everything, right?” he asks, voice wavering a little.

“Of course, I’m still your friend. Doesn’t mean I can’t be mad at you though,” Patrick answers sternly, briefly flicking his eyes towards Joe.

Joe bites his lips and lowers his head to look at the folded hands in his lap, nodding in agreement.

 As Patrick opens his mouth to add something, a slow love song starts playing and everyone on the dance floor breaks down into couples, lead by Joe’s brother and his newly wedded-wife.

“I know you’re mad at me but… we should probably go dance for this one at least. If you’re still down with the fake dating thing, obviously,” nervously says Joe, slowly rising to his feet and extending his hand to Patrick who gives a long exhale and a curt nod.

Hand in hand, they make their way to the dance floor. Patrick’s face is still pulled into a tight expression while Joe’s is the portrait of anxiety; they’re not making the most convincing couple at all.

Taking a deep breath, Joe slides his arms around Patrick’s neck, shivering as he feels Patrick’s arms wrap around his waist, reluctantly at first, but slowly growing more certain as they start swaying together and Joe feels the tension drain from his friend’s body.

Towards the middle of the song, Patrick does the unexpected considering his earlier mood by nuzzling his head in the crook of Joe’s neck. Stunned, he freezes for a few seconds, heart rate speeding up, which Patrick most definitely feels. Trying to think about anything but the ghost like press of Patrick’s lips against his neck and the warm dampness of his breath fanning on his skin, Joe looks around the room and sees his mom dancing with his dad, giving him an approving look followed by a not so subtle thumbs up.

This makes Joe crack a smile against his will which he quickly hides in Patrick soft hair, staying there and breathing in the familiar scent of his shampoo. For a moment, he lets himself forget the mess that happened at dinner and pretend for a little while that he and Patrick are genuinely dating and that he doesn’t keep ruining things between them. He feels happy all of a sudden, pressed against the man he loves in such a tender and warm embrace – he doesn’t want to let go, even after the slow love song shifts to something much more upbeat that he can’t recognize.

So he doesn’t let go. And Patrick doesn’t either.

They’re the only ones still slow dancing, lost in their own world, but for some reason, no one seems to care, and they don’t get bumped into too often.

They stay swaying in silence, all tucked into one another until Joe feels the move of Patrick’s lips against his pulse, clearly muttering something that he isn’t meant to hear.

“What did you say?” Joe asks softly, lifting his head from Patrick’s, breaking the sort of trance they were in.

Patrick slowly peels his face away from Joe’s neck, tightly closing his baby blue eyes before hesitantly lifting them up at him. Joe thinks it must be a trick of the light when he sees a mix of resignation and… hope? flicker in the smaller man’s eyes, and holds his breath as he waits for his answer.

“Why can’t you just admit you’re in love with me?” whispers Patrick, voice breaking lightly on the last word.

Joe abruptly stops their dancing mid step and feels all the air leave his body at once, as if Patrick had physically punched him in the stomach. He knows he’s gasping unattractively at the man in front of him, but he can’t seem to force the much-needed air into his lungs. He’s starting to feel lightheaded and tingly. He’s absolutely going to die right there and then in Patrick’s arms. Which, all things considered, really wouldn’t be the worst way to go.

“Hey, hey, breathe. Joe, please breathe,” gently demands Patrick, pulling his arms from around his waist to lay his hands on Joe’s blood-drained cheeks, forcing him to look right into his eyes so he could breathe in sync with him.

Focusing on Patrick’s eyes, Joe takes in a deep gulp of air, immediately feeling better than he had a moment ago. Patrick’s hands don’t leave his cheeks and Joe brings one of his own up to grip Patrick’s on his face. He keeps breathing in sync with him until his light-headedness and panic mostly dissipate.

“That’s it, you’re okay. I’m sorry, I just had to say something, but maybe I was wrong,” Patrick says before dropping his hands to his sides and taking a step back, bumping into a dancer who shoots him a disgruntled look.

“No!” forcefully declares Joe before adding more calmly, “No, you’re not wrong.”

Frustrated by the unexpected turn of event and the very public and busy setting they’re in, Joe takes a deep breath before grabbing Patrick’s hand and pulling him off the dance floor, out the door of the reception hall and out the backdoor of the building, into the large private garden.

The October air is cold and crisp, the dark velvety night sky enveloping like a blanket; the grass is wet, the light from the lanterns placed around the pebbled path reflecting on it.

Still holding Patrick’s hand, Joe takes a few calming breaths, looking up at the sky, trying not to shake out of his skin. He knows what’s coming next. He has to tell Patrick the truth and either be gently rejected – since Patrick clearly isn’t as upset as he was earlier – or Patrick admits he feels the same by some miracle and then they start dating or something.

“How- how did you know? That I love you,” finally stutters Joe, his lisp making an unwanted appearance for the second time this evening.

Patrick lets out a startled laugh.

“You’re not exactly subtle, Joe. I see how you look at me, how you blush whenever I touch you. I’ve realized it a while ago I think, but I just didn’t want to admit it to myself. Not to mention the adoring look you had on your face before you _kissed_ me. You’re a decent actor, but you’re not that good, sorry,” Patrick says, lips quirking into a smirk.

Joe lets out an ashamed groan, leaning his head forward to look at the ground, trying to hide his embarrassment.

“I just got caught up in the moment, okay? Your story sounded so real and like something you really wished happened, I couldn’t stop myself on time. I’m really sorry. I know I upset you, I know you didn’t want me to kiss you even just as part of our pretend relationship. What my mom said when she saw us earlier was true. I have been in love with you for as long as I can remember and I’ve gotten worse at hiding it lately. But I know you don’t love me,” Joe chokes on an almost sob at these words, “I know you accepted to follow me here so you could let me down as nicely as possible, because you’re you, you’re Patrick Stump and you’re too kind to just walk out the door with any explanations, even if I fucked up and de-”

The rest of his rambling dies in his throat as he feels a tug on his suit jacket followed immediately by soft lips energetically pressed to his. Joe is so shocked that his brain and body can’t react… Patrick is actually kissing him, of his own will, not just to be a good fake boyfriend, but for real!

When his body finally catches up on the action, Joe presses back into the kiss as enthusiastically as he can, putting his hand on Patrick’s jaw so he could fit his mouth better with Patrick’s, electricity running through his veins at the sensations.

The kiss lasts a few more blessed seconds before Joe snaps his head back, brain regaining awareness of the whole situation.

“Wait, how-”

“If you’d let me say a word before going on your ridiculous rant, you would’ve heard me say that I really did mean everything I said in that story, that I’ve been in love with you for years, that I wanted to tell you that night we walked home after band practice and stopped by the lake but I didn’t have the nerves to,” begins Patrick, getting up on his tip toes to delicately kiss Joe. “That my heart stopped when you asked me to be your fake date to this wedding because I knew I would be too convincing in the role of the head-over-heels-in-love boyfriend and that you’d figure it out and be mad or freaked out,” another kiss gets pressed to Joe’s lips. “That yeah, I was upset you had kissed me like that at dinner because it really wasn’t how I wanted our first kiss to go,” and another one. “That you’re an oblivious idiot and that if there’s anything I want to do here is ask you if you’d like to be my boyfriend for real. I love you, Joe.” Patrick finishes, leaning up once again to place a lingering kiss on the lips of the man in front of him.

Once again, Joe is the first to pull away, making Patrick roll his eyes in mock exasperation.

“You didn’t even let me answer!” Joe says, eyes crinkling happily, “Yes. I want to be your boyfriend. And I love you too,” he breathes in relief, a blinding smile splitting his face, the good kind of butterflies making their glorious return in his stomach. He had been waiting to say these words for so long.

Patrick returns a smile just as brilliant as Joe’s, making Joe’s heart want to jump out of his ribcage in a familiar way. Patrick almost knocks him backwards as he presses his smaller body against his and wraps his arms around his neck to lower Joe to his level, so they can rest their forehead together.

“Perfect,” confirms a still-smiling Patrick against Joe’s lips.

 Joe nods tenderly before closing the gap and passionately kissing his best friend – boyfriend.

Nothing went too wrong with his plan, after all.

 

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer, just in case: i don't ship joe and patrick irl, i fully love and respect them and their wives and would never ever bring the topic of joetrick up to them, this is just for personal fun and enjoyment.
> 
> comments, kudos and bookmarks are appreciated!
> 
> you can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/IgbtpiIots) and on [tumblr](https://tumblr.com/sunflowerstump) for more fob and bands related bs


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